The Patriot Missile System, used by the United States military, includes a variety of subsystems. One such subsystem is the “antenna mast group” (AMG). The AMG includes a truck, e.g., a 5-ton, Model M-942 truck, that transports two antenna masts and associated equipment. The truck also provides a platform from which the two antenna masts are deployed to a vertical orientation. The two antenna masts, when deployed to the vertical orientation, each support two antennas used for communications. Each of the two antennas is coupled to a respective rotator, adapted to independently rotate each of the two antennas to point to a desired direction.
The truck used as part of the conventional AMG is a relatively large truck, having a gross vehicle weight (GWV) greater than fifteen thousand pounds, not including the antenna masts and antenna mast deployment mechanisms. The conventional AMG, due to its large size and heavy weight, particularly the large size and heavy weight of the truck, must be transported to a battlefield by a large aircraft, for example a C5 aircraft. The C5 aircraft can only carry one conventional AMG. The requirement to transport the AMG with a large aircraft, which can only carry one AMG, limits the ability to rapidly deploy multiple Patriot Missile Systems, and therefore multiple AMGs, to remote battlefields.
Once transported to a battlefield, the conventional AMG requires approximately 30 minutes to deploy to an operational configuration. Deployment includes a variety of steps, including, but not limited to, attaching electronic cables associated with the antennas, and deploying the two antenna masts to a vertical orientation at a height of up to eighty-four feet.
Another antenna mast system made by AB WIBE, a company located in Sweden, is referred to herein as the WIBE system. The WIBE system includes two relatively small antenna masts mounted on the top of a modified high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). The HMMWV will be recognized to be a military vehicle used throughout the world, including the United States, primarily as a platform with which to carry troops and light supplies. The HMMWV curb weight is approximately 6,400 pounds, not including payload & crew.
The HMMWV used as part of the WIBE system has a structural strength capable of carrying two relatively small antenna masts. The longer of the two antenna masts can be deployed to an operational height of less than eighty-four feet, and can carry a head load of approximately ninety pounds in winds up to sixty-two miles per hour. During transport, the two antenna masts are horizontally oriented and positioned on the top of the HMMWV so as to be parallel to the central axis of the HMMWV. During deployment of the two antenna masts, each of the two antenna masts is first rotated to a vertical orientation and then extended to operational height.
The WIBE system has no geared mechanisms with mechanical advantage to assist with deployment of the antenna masts from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation. Instead the deployment of each of the two antenna masts from horizontal to vertical is performed manually.
Furthermore, the WIBE system is not adapted to transport and deploy the larger and heavier antenna masts required by the Patriot Missile System. The antenna masts required by the Patriot Missile System must deploy vertically up to eighty four feet and must be capable of carrying heavy loads, for example, two hundred fifty pounds per antenna mast, in high winds, for example, up to ninety-six mile per hour gusts.
It would, therefore, be desirable to overcome the aforesaid and other disadvantages.